RHI Magnesia – +16.10%
Ceres Power – +13.47%
Diageo – +7.47%
Hochschild Mining – +5.91%
Ocado Group – +5.74%

Other big risers from the media and tech space are Future (+4.63%), THG (+4.36%), IP Group (+3.33%) and WPP (+2.22%).

JTC – -5.01%
Helios Towers – -2.63%
ME Group – -1.94%
BT Group – -1.90%
Sainsbury – -1.49%

Author: Jonathan Symcox

Boots has acquired the loss-making trading subsidiary of MyHealthChecked plc.

The listed entity has become a cash shell after Cardiff-based Concepta Diagnostics, which delivers at-home health testing kits alongside a digital platform, was snapped up for a reported £2.375 million.

CEO Penelope McCormick is to join Boots as managing director of Concepta, with non-executive chair Adam Reynolds becoming executive chairman of the cash shell MyHealthChecked, which will now change its name.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

The Great North mayors and leaders have written to the Chancellor ahead of the Budget, calling for investment that will unlock investment and opportunity across the North.

In a joint letter, The Great North calls for major investment in infrastructure, expanded business support and measures to tackle child poverty.

On infrastructure, the group is demanding the delivery of Northern Powerhouse Rail in full, complementing other rail investment across the North of England to deliver better connectivity across all places to create ‘a spine’ that connects the whole North. 

Mayors and leaders are also calling for a new funding settlement, devolved powers and reform of business support, to back the north’s entrepreneurs and innovators. 

The Great North’s third ask is to tackle child poverty, ensuring every young person in the North has a fair shot at a brighter future by lifting the two-child benefit cap — taking 100,000 children in the North out of poverty.

Spacehive, a community fundraising platform, has launched Social Impact Donations (SID) — a service that makes it easier for businesses, including small and medium-sized companies, to support local community projects while capturing measurable social impact.

Through SID companies can fund vetted projects—from transforming green spaces and urban regeneration initiatives, to energy efficiency programmes—and receive a detailed impact report, including the impact data and marketing assets needed for reporting social impact.

xigxag, a startup transforming the way people read and listen to books, has raised investment from a group of leading angel investors.

Founded in 2019 by Kelli Fairbrother and Mark Chaplin, xigxag is bringing the first major innovation in audiobooks for decades, offering a fully integrated ‘listen and read’ experience.

The xigxag app allows listeners to see text and illustrations as they listen, look up words, search, take notes, share quotes, and switch between listening and reading or read along with the narration.

Lifted Ventures and Alma Angels have invested alongside book industry pioneers and the founders of World of Books.

Zest, a fast-growing investor-operator of public access EV charging infrastructure, has completed the deployment of 142 charging spaces across 14 locations at the University of Warwick.

The rollout is part of a £1.3m investment by Zest that will see the charge point operator provide and manage charging facilities at the University over the next 15 years.

Including both fast and rapid EV chargers, the facilities are projected to save more than 15,000 tonnes of CO2, equivalent to 69 million miles driven in a petrol car.

Catalyst, Northern Ireland’s science and technology hub, has announced a new partnership with Ulster University that will embed entrepreneurial thinking and innovation into the academic experience of more than 450 second and final-year students across the Faculty of Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment.

The initiative, known as IDE Lab @ CEBE, will enable students to explore the commercial potential of their academic work, consider venture creation and develop the mindset needed to succeed in a fast-changing global environment.

Limetrack, a London-based food waste technology company, has raised over £1.3 million – including a £1m loan from Innovate UK.

Limetrack helps businesses to cut costs, reduce carbon and meet regulatory requirements through its IoT-enabled ‘SMART Bin’.

Customers already include multiple NHS Trusts, Hilton and Holiday Express hotels, independent schools, office blocks, restaurants, hotels and care homes, as well as all the major UK waste management firms.

In addition, multinational corporations including Sky and global hospitality company Convene are introducing Limetrack’s SMART bins across multiple sites.

Co-founded in 2021 by British entrepreneur Andy King, Limetrack is using the funds to scale its manufacturing ahead of a European rollout.

Pre-seed investment firm Ada Ventures has launched an AI-powered pitch deck review tool for founders.

Developed by Ada Ventures principal and head of product Michael Tefula, ‘Deck Genius’ is a free platform that gives founders VC-quality feedback on their pitch deck in a fraction of the time it may take an investor to respond.

To use the platform, founders upload a PDF copy of their pitch deck. Within minutes they’ll receive a comprehensive analysis of the fundamental business elements of their proposal, as well as insights on the design and story-telling qualities of the pitch deck.

Once complete, founders have the option to delete their pitch deck from the system or choose to have their analysis securely stored, allowing them to revisit the feedback in the future.

Business software provider Open ECX has moved to bigger headquarters to support further expansion, as organic growth and deepening customer and partner relationships put it on track for a record year.

The company has relocated from Bruntwood’s Blackfriars House in Manchester city centre to Cloister House at the property giant’s nearby Riverside complex in Salford.

Its new HQ provides capacity to expand the team and features additional meeting spaces and breakout areas, creating opportunities to host more customers and events.

Growth this year has put Open ECX on course to achieve record revenues of £4.6m for 2025, up from £3m last year.

Open ECX, which is backed by private equity firm MonacoSol, is a provider of SaaS-based software that automates business transactions.

Its technology helps businesses to streamline their financial processes, covering aspects such as invoicing, ordering and statement reconciliation. The software integrates with an array of leading ERP systems, including SAP, Oracle and Microsoft.

SmartSearch, a provider of digital compliance and anti-money laundering solutions, has appointed Seyfi Günay as its chief revenue officer.

Günay joins following significant investment from Triple Private Equity and the acquisition of identity verification specialist Credas.

He has over two decades of experience in sales leadership at organisations including London Stock Exchange Group, Moody’s Analytics, and S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

US private equity firm Carlyle has bought the Barclay family out of The Very Group.

The Nasdaq-listed company has completed a deal for the Liverpool-headquartered online retailer, which operates the Very and Littlewoods brands and offers customers flexible payment options.

The deal will see international media group IMI continue as a key stakeholder and concludes the Barclay family’s 20-year involvement in the business.

During that time, it has evolved from a traditional catalogue business into a purely online retailer.

Kainos Group plc has reported revenue growth in its latest half-year results – but profits dropped.

For the six months ended 30th September 2025, the Belfast firm – listed in London – said revenue increased 7% to £196.1 million, but adjusted pre-tax profit declined by 16% to £32m.

The software firm has a focus on public sector digitisation, healthcare digitisation and solutions for Workday – an AI platform for finance and HR management.

It said the drop in profits was “in part due to a full period of investment to support our Workday partnership, increased National Insurance costs and the use of contractors and third-party suppliers to provide short-term delivery capacity”.

The board also announced its intention to launch a further share buyback programme of £30m, to be executed over a period of six months.

 

Author: Jonathan Symcox

Private equity firm Permira has agreed a £2.7 billion deal to take listed JTC private.

JTC, based in Jersey, provides administrative services for investment funds and has grown to 38 global offices and more than 14,000 clients.

Following a bidding war with fellow PE firm Warburg Pincus, Permira’s sixth offer of 1,340 pence in cash has been accepted by the board of JTC.

Shareholders will now vote on the deal.

Applied Nutrition plc has reported a big leap in annual revenue and profits.

The sports nutrition, health and wellness brand said revenue was up 24.2% to £107.1m for the year ended 31st July 2025 – ahead of IPO guidance and in line with recently upgraded market expectations.

Adjusted EBITDA was up 18.8% to £30.9m, while unadjusted operating profit was up 18.6% to £28.1m.

Dirk Hahn, CEO at recruitment and human resources giant Hays plc, is taking medical leave having recently undergone surgery.

Hahn’s recovery is progressing positively, the firm said, and he is expected to return to the business early in the new year.

Michael Findlay, group chair, will become executive chair on an interim basis.

Intellectual property investment group Tekcapital plc has entered into a strategic alliance with Nexscient.

Tekcapital, listed on London’s AIM market, is focused on transforming university technologies into valuable products that can improve people’s lives.

LA-based Nexscient, listed in the US, is an innovator in artificial intelligence applications and intelligent enterprise solutions.

The deal will help it to identify and help acquire transformative intellectual property assets from research institutions worldwide.

Listed Ondo Insurtech’s subsidiary LeakBot USA Inc has signed a contract with Westfield Insurance.

Westfield will begin by deploying 10,000 LeakBot devices and connected services for homeowners’ insurance customers in Ohio, Indiana, and Pennsylvania, states in which Ondo has existing client coverage. 

Consistent with other commercial contracts, the agreement involves upfront payments ahead of anticipated shipments.

Risers:

ITV – +15.29%

Oxford Nanopore Technologies – +10.32%

Ceres Power Holdings – +4.78%

Goodwin – +3.77%

Ithaca Energy – +2.88%

Fallers:

Rightmove – -13.79%

International Consolidated Airlines Group – -8.98%

Baltic Classifieds Group – -7.83%

ME Group International – -7.38%

Auto Trader Group – -4.76%

Author: Patrick Killeen

Shares in Rightmove have dropped by over 14% today after the UK’s largest online property platform lowered its profit guidance. 

The company, which is a member of the FTSE 100, has said it will ramp up investment in AI and digital transformation to strengthen long-term growth.

It now expects operating profit to rise between 3% and 5% in 2026, down from an earlier forecast of around 9%, reflecting what it described as “accelerated technology investment to build an even stronger platform”.